Feeling Sorry For God

[Webers_Home]

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● Mark 12:30 . .You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

One of the aspects of love is empathy; which can be roughly defined as
emotional responses related to things like compassion, pity, and sympathy.

It isn't necessary to like God in order to comply with Mark 12:30, but it is
necessary to feel sorry for Him; i.e. feel God's pain whenever He's upset
about something; viz: to commiserate with God's sorrow.

I've had people actually tell me that God has no feelings; i.e. He doesn't get
emotional-- He's above all that. Well; I have no clue how anyone can read
the Bible and come to the conclusion that God has no feelings because even
in the Bible's very first book we find God in remorse.

● Gen 6:5-6 . . Now The Lord observed the extent of the people's
wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally
evil. So The Lord was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart.

And although God didn't particularly like the people whom Moses led out of
Egypt (Ex 32:9-10) at the same time, He commiserated with their suffering.
(Isa 63:9)

For some people; it's asking too much for them to commiserate with God
because they were born with defective amygdalae; which are portions of the
brain that trigger emotional responses.

The thing is; just as there are people who can recognize humor while at the
same time not be tickled by it, so there are people who can recognize
suffering while at the same time not be moved by it. Those kinds of
empathy-challenged people are often labeled callous, insensitive, and hard
hearted. The really bad cases end up labeled monsters because the horrific
things they are capable of doing to their fellow man are beyond humane
comprehension.

Seeing as how non compliance with Mark 12:30 is worthy of the sum of all
fears; then how are empathy-challenged people to have any hope of
escaping it?

Well; the answer to that is of course the Xmas story.

● Luke 2:10-11 . . I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all
the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a
savior

Webster's defines a savior as one who rescues. Everyone has seen examples
of rescuers-- lifeguards, firemen, cops, emergency medical teams, Coast
Guard units, snow patrols, and mountain rescue teams. Rescuers typically
get people to safety who are facing imminent death and/or grave danger
while utterly helpless to do anything about it.

● 1John 4:10 . . In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us
and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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[Helen]

Sorry...I just cannot agree with that.
God does not have the emotions of mankind that we can "feel sorry for Him"
He doesn't feel sorry for Himself!!
You bring Him down to a mere man.

 

[Butterfly]

I do believe that God shares his compassion, sadness ect with us at times- those times when we know that the way we feel about a person or situation goes beyond our own emotions- it's hard to explain but there are times when I know how I personally feel about someone, but deep inside I will have a deep sense of compassion or emotion towards them. I can only conclude that what I feel deep down is from the Holy Spirit, and it's God sharing his heart for the person with me. Does that make sense !
I do not believe we have to feel sorry for God, that does somehow place us above him.
Butterfly

 

[Webers_Home]

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It's been my experience that it's very difficult to sympathize with someone
while at the same time disliking them immensely.

BTW: Rom 1:28-32 lists malice towards God as a depravity. Whether or not
that's really true is of course left up to each individual to decide for
themselves.

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[aspen]

I question His taste quite often

 

[Webers_Home]

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You bring Him down to a mere man.

Adam wasn't a precise replication of God, but he was pretty close.

● Gen 1:26-27 . . God said: Let us make man in our image, in our likeness. So
God created man in His own image.

Later on, God brought out a much better replication of Himself than Adam.

● John 1:14 . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.

● John 14:8-10 . . Philip said: Lord, show us the Father and that will be
enough for us. Jesus answered: Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have
been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the
Father. How can you say show us the Father? Don't you believe that I am
in the Father, and that the Father is in me?

● Col 2:9 . . For in him all the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form.

● Heb 1:3 . .The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact
representation of His being

Now, if somebody can prove to me-- clearly, conclusively, and without ambiguity
and/or sophistry --that Christ had no feelings; then I will accept that his
Father has none too.

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[Miss Hepburn]

@Webers_Home ,
What an esoteric and deeply profound subject.
For some unknown reason for over 4 decades I have been privy to or
have been given gifts of such astounding revelatory insights into Who God Is...that I know deeply in a place not known by many...I say humbly...
that God Himself is many things and one is a Being of only feeeelings...
Unquenchable compassion, burning pain for our searching in the wrong places,
Neeeed like no one can almost imagine...like a baby with an open heart abandoned in an open field, raw, bleeding, a black hole of such neeeed of our love...prideless,
yearning ... waiting.

He is a Being that feels everything...the roots of every plant burrowing for water at the same time reaching reaching up to the sun for nutrition and life...He feels every pain and triumph of every cell of every creature..every mother that has lost a son...and every joy of each birth...His timeless, ancient Sacred Heart is beyond comprehension...
This, for some reason, He has shown me.
Do many understand what I say...no, not many...
Do I mind. Nope.

He is such unexpressable Love and Pure Heart...that what comes close
might be a baby in need, crying on its back with it's arms open begging to be held.

Does that sound foreign to the logical, intellectual, analyzing mind?
Of course.
But, not to anyone that knows and understands God.
@Trump0101

 

[mjrhealth]

Well God certainly must have emotions, or He would not have created man to Love Him, but than again what we know as love and what he knows as love are probably on two completely different levels, since God does not have"flesh" to contend with, Well since He sent Christ to go through all we go thorough so He could understand us, I guess He knew it was different.

 

[Miss Hepburn]

I do not believe we have to feel sorry for God, that does somehow place us above him.
Butterfly

Above Him? No...not exactly.
And yet He needs us so much it is almost unimaginable...He has placed us in a position...or rather Himself, by choice, of such groveling, aching need.
We are the flame...He is the moth;
The moth that dies for our love on fire for only Him.
Oh, this is such an exquisite Dance....the Divine Cosmic Endless Romance...

 

[Webers_Home]

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I do not believe we have to feel sorry for God, that does somehow place us
above him.

Sympathy doesn't elevate you above your friends, no, it seats you beside
them; holding their hand and/or putting your arm around them and assuring
them they aren't alone in their grief.

I cannot imagine any friendship lasting for very long without sympathy,
compassion, and empathy. No, a friendship that lacks those qualities is no
friendship at all; it's little better than a cold war.

"When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their
sorrow." (Rom 12:15)

"Pursue charity" (1Cor 14:1a)

The koine Greek word for "charity" in that command is agape (ag-ah'-pay)
which basically means love, e.g. affection, benevolence, kindness,
compassion, tenderness, understanding, devotion, caring, thoughtfulness,
and a host of other things like that.

When people are charitable with people, they will be charitable with God too.

"If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone
who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom
he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God
must also love his brother.

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[Butterfly]

I guess it depends on how you interpret ' feel sorry for ' - there is sympathy, but their is also pity. The latter does not always make a person feel supported, understood and it can be a means of looking down on someone.
In many respects we are products of our pasts sometimes and it impacts how we relate to God, I spent many years in ' victim mode ' and I got stuck and would crave sympathy, so I guess it's impacted how I relate to the word. I do not see God as a victim , and to me that does bring him down to my level in the wrong way.
Coming alongside people is different, in my eyes, it's having empathy - now that word does create the same sense of friendship you have both mentioned. I know God is empathic.
God is actually working on the ' sympathy ' thing - I just cannot help but see it in such a negative way
Xx
Butterfly

 

[pia]

Well God certainly must have emotions, or He would not have created man to Love Him, but than again what we know as love and what he knows as love are probably on two completely different levels, since God does not have"flesh" to contend with, Well since He sent Christ to go through all we go thorough so He could understand us, I guess He knew it was different.

From my understanding so far, love is not a feeling, not an emotion, it can be effected into action by feelings and emotions, but love is an ACTION word...Love acts when moved by compassion as one example......I believe with you that Jesus came not only to save, but to bridge that gap between God and man, one spirit the other flesh....How could we possibly have begun to understand anything of God, apart from how Jesus showed Him to be, once He was here......and how could God possibly understand what it was like to dwell in a fallen body/mind...Well as we now know, Jesus tasted of all that, for every man and on behalf of the Father....Just the most amazing plan of rescue eh? lol

 

[Webers_Home]

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Disappointment can be defined as the emotion felt when one's expectations
are not met.

By the time most people are adults; they've no doubt undergone at least
one disappointing experience so it shouldn't be too difficult for them to
empathize with God's disappointments.

Frustration can be defined as exasperation; viz: the feeling of impatience or
anger caused by another's repeated disagreeable acts.

Again: by the time most people are adults; they've no doubt undergone at
least one frustrating experience so it shouldn't be too difficult for them to
empathize with God's frustrations.

I think God would sincerely appreciate a little sympathy from us for the
numerous disappointments and frustrations He endures in his dealings with
mankind.

I've heard it said that half of us go to funerals to honor folk we couldn't be
bothered with when they were alive, and then lie through out teeth when we
tell the family "I'm sorry for your loss."

Well; I suspect that most people don't give God even that degree of pity let
alone honest and heart-felt. Humanity, on the whole, is indifferent to God's
feelings; far from tender and sensitive, humanity's attitude towards God is
thoughtless and cruel.

"When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their
sorrow." (Rom 12:15)

I cannot think of even one valid reason why God should not be included
among others right along with everyone else in that category.

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[Miss Hepburn]

Empathy.

 

[bbyrd009]

It's been my experience that it's very difficult to sympathize with someone
while at the same time disliking them immensely.

then how can

It isn't necessary to like God in order to comply with Mark 12:30

be valid?

 

[bbyrd009]

I think God would sincerely appreciate a little sympathy from us for the
numerous disappointments and frustrations He endures in his dealings with
mankind.

i see where you are trying to get to, but imo "obedience" should stand for "sympathy" there

 

[Helen]

i see where you are trying to get to, but imo "obedience" should stand for "sympathy" there

Amen...well said! Agree.

 

[Webers_Home]

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● Hos 1:2a & 3 . .When Yhvh began to speak through Hosea, Yhvh said to
him: Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife, and children of unfaithfulness.
So he married Gomer; daughter of Diblaim.

God had a special purpose in mind when He ordered Hosea to take an
immoral woman to be his spouse.

● Hos 1:2b . . Because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing
from Yhvh.

God was on the brink of dispatching Hosea to lay a guilt trip on His people
for their gross negligence to honor the covenant they made with Him as per
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy-- a covenant which God
apparently regards equivalent to a wedding vow.

But God didn't want Hosea's preaching to be more dispassionate barking and
threatening like Jonah's because in this case, the element of jealousy was a
factor. (Ex 20:5)

However, in order for Hosea to convey God's disappointment with His people
effectively, it was necessary to put Hosea through some of God's troubles so
he could not only convey God's disappointment, but also project it. Like it's
said: one cannot truly know what somebody is going through till they
themselves go through it.

If some of you guys out there have never experienced the pain of a two
timing lover or a cheating spouse, then you cannot even begin to appreciate
how God feels when His people are unfaithful. It hurts, and if you don't think
so; just ask somebody who's been there; or better yet, somebody there
now.

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[Webers_Home]

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● 2Sam 11:27 . . The thing that David had done was evil in the sight of The
Lord.

The "thing" was David's tryst with Bathsheba and the subsequent
assassination of her husband via warfare.

Psalm 51 is David's prayer in regards to that thing; in it he said:

"Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, (Ps
51:4)

I'm usually "told" that passage means David's sins are private; i.e. none of
our business; they're between him and God alone. But I disagree because
the entire escapade is recorded in the Bible for all the world to take note so
it hardly qualifies as private and/or none of our business.

"Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction" (Rom
15:5)

I think David was saying in Psalm 51 that his shameful conduct with
Bathsheba let God down. They were friends; and I truly believe that God has
just as much right as anybody else to expect better of His friends than He
expects from ordinary folk. When God's friends disappoint Him, especially
when they're disloyal and/or cause Him humiliation and embarrassment; He
feels it.

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[bbyrd009]

I'm usually "told" that passage means David's sins are private; i.e. none of
our business; they're between him and God alone. But I disagree because
the entire escapade is recorded in the Bible for all the world to take note so
it hardly qualifies as private and/or none of our business.

i'm sure Uriah appreciates that too, i guess he would have something to say about D's sins being "only against God"